Different inventions, of course, affected the American people in different ways.

For example, the hydrogen bomb was invented in the 1950s. You could argue that this invention (along with the development of rockets later in the decade) made American life much scarier. These inventions made people fear that a nuclear war could kill them at any moment.

On the good side, a vaccine for polio was invented during this time. This clearly improved the lives of Americans. This discovery made it so that they did not have to worry about themselves or their loved ones contracting this terrible disease. In this way, life became less scary.

So, inventions of this time had a mixed impact on American life. They could make life seem more secure or less secure. They could also (with the development of such things as TVs) make life more convenient. Different inventions had very different impacts.